Lukas Dhont’sClose, now in theaters, opens on a note of pure, euphoric bliss.
(Not for nothing,Closehas been nominated for the Best International Feature Oscar, in acompetitive year.)
Two young boys teens but only barely race through a field of flowers, untrammeled.
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They smile in exhilaration, the pink and yellow blossoms suffusing the frame.
But the filmmaker is quick to dig into the subtext.
(Watch the scene in our exclusive clip above.)
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Among many things, I wantedCloseto be about masculinity.
And so, these flowers in many ways represent this sort of tenderness, this fragility.
So why do we not represent that reality?"
He calls it conditioning.
Still, he welcomes the kind of self-examination his movie is bound to trigger.
“I’m also conditioned to look in that way,” he admits.
“We immediately wonder about their sexualities.
It’s something I’ve confronted in myself.”
His first feature will enjoy the kind of exposure that few debuting voices can claim.
There is that dividing line.Close, to its great credit, sits right on it.
